V6 for Falcon

FORD Australia will retire its trademark inline six-cylinder engine and replace it with a smaller-capacity imported V6 within three years – after half a century of Falcon service – according to GoAuto sources.

The shock plan is believed to be the frontrunner in a range of options now being considered by Ford to meet strict new Euro IV exhaust emissions laws that come into effect for all new vehicles built after July 1, 2010 – little more than two years into the all-new 2008 Orion Falcon’s model life.

It would mark the end of an era for the Ford Motor Company, whose 1906 Model K straight six started a tradition that continues today at Ford Australia – the world’s last Ford subsidiary, and the last of three Australian car-makers, to persist with the I6.

It would also come as a surprise, not least to the 600 workers at Ford’s Geelong engine plant (which opened in 1926), following the Federal Government’s $28 million Automotive Competitiveness and Investment Scheme (ACIS) grant in 2005, which was believed to have shored up the locally-built engine’s future beyond 2010.

A new V6 would require extensive and expensive calibration and durability testing to resolve potential noise, vibration and harshness issues associated with an inherently less well-balanced V6 across all of Ford’s model variants, including at least two automatic transmissions and both rear and all-wheel drive powertrain configurations.

The move to a more compact alloy V6 from a cast-iron straight six would also alter the weight balance of both models, which together attract 80,000 sales annually.

Crucially, it would also leave Ford without turbocharged performance versions of the trusty Falcon six, which now attract a popular following in the (245kW/480Nm) XR6 and Territory Turbo, and Ford Performance Vehicles’ F6 Typhoon sedan and Tornado utility models, which deliver 270kW/550Nm – the highest torque output of any Australian engine.

Ford says the ACIS grant, for research and development into future engine technologies including emissions reduction, was never received specifically to make its cars Euro IV-compliant.

“We received funds to make our engines more efficient, but they were not specifically attached to Euro IV,” Ford Australia spokesperson Sinead McAlary told GoAuto.

Ford concedes it is currently considering a number of post-2010 engine options. “We’re looking at a whole range of future powertrain technologies for Falcon and we have a number of irons in the fire, but we’re still in the investigation stage and therefore can’t discuss them,” said Ms McAlary.

“There are a lot of different things in the works at the moment and I can’t be specific about any of them because a number of them are in the study stage and may or may not eventuate. As you’d be aware we study a number of different things all the time and until anything is confirmed I can’t discuss it.

Left: Geelong engine plant and Barra engine (below).



“They could come together quickly or at some point in the future, but because they’re still being discussed we wouldn’t like to rule any of them in or out at this stage. We really haven’t decided.” The strict new Euro IV regulations come into effect for all redesigned new passenger vehicles from July, 2008, and for all new vehicles from July, 2010.

It is believed it would cost Ford more to bring the Barra inline six up to Euro IV standards than to fully import a V6, but another plan believed to be under study is the local assembly of V6 engines from imported components – in much the same way FPV assembles the 5.4-litre DOHC “Boss” V8 that powers Ford’s XR8 and its own GT models.

GoAuto sources indicate that a decision would already have been made if Ford intends to implement either new engine sourcing strategy. Reducing the cost of both scenarios is the fact that federal government import duty on imported vehicles and components will drop from 10 to five per cent from 2010. Co-incidentally, Ford’s ACIS funding takes the form of import duty credits.

In rough terms, the cost of an engine in an Australian-built car is generally valued at about half that of the entire vehicle, and imported engines – such as the V8s in both Ford and Holden models – are also open to currency fluctuations.

Either way, the switch from a homegrown engine that has paid for its own development costs many times over in a career spanning 50 years to a costlier imported (assembled or otherwise) V6 will force Ford to either increase prices, remove features or absorb the extra costs after just two years of Orion Falcon sales, making the success of its volume-selling model even more vital for Ford.

Ford Australia president Tom Gorman is on record as saying attempts have been made to bring forward the new model’s release from its original planned introduction in March, when both wagon and (short-wheelbase only) sedan models were expected to go on sale – followed a month or so later by the new Falcon utility.

But Ford says it will not undertake the same slow-release reveal campaign that preceded the launch of its BA Falcon or original SY Territory. “You won’t see Orion-specific information from us for a while,” said Ms McAlary.

The current BFII Falcon, sales of which are down almost a quarter compared with the first six months of 2006, entered its final run-out phase in earnest last week, when equipment upgrades and price cuts of up to $6000 were announced alongside discounts of up to $1000 for Focus, $4500 for Ranger and $2700 for Territory – sales of which are also down 10.8 per cent to June this year.

Apart from slashing current prices and fast-tracking the Orion’s release, Ford has long stated it is actively pursuing export opportunities in an effort to return Broadmeadows production closer to its annual capacity of 120,000 vehicles.

It would also make sense to harmonise potential engines with other Ford models that may eventually be based on the Orion Falcon platform, possibly including the next-generation Crown Victoria, Mustang coupe, Lincoln Town Car, Mercury Grand Marquis and a production vehicle based on the Interceptor concept revealed at Detroit in January.

Another radical plan to better utilise its Victorian facility was reported last week by Fairfax media and may also have received the blessing of FoMoCo’s global product development chief Derrick Kuzak, the man in charge of better integrating Ford engine and platform technologies globally, in a similar way to General Motors’ strategy – and who made his first visit to Ford Australia last month.

It was reported that the installation of a third model line could see Ford Australia produce its own small model for the first time – such as Focus, Fiesta or the Blue Oval’s still-secret compact SUV referred to as X-Max – and that an announcement will take place within weeks.

“The key things we need as a business is to optimise our capacity utilisation, which we’re not doing at the moment, and to ensure that not only are we competitive in the marketplace today but that we can remain competitive for the foreseeable future,” Ms McAlary told GoAuto.

“So we’re looking at a number of things that will ensure that we can meet those objectives. When I say competitive I mean in terms of the way we price and the features we can put in our vehicles in terms of the technology we can access, capacity utilisation, economies of scale.

“Every business does this on a regular basis. You can’t sit still – you have to look at different alternatives. You might have an end goal in mind but there might be different ways to get there.” For its part, Holden has also slashed Commodore pricing on the back of slower sales this year, and is expected to launch its redesigned VE utility in September, an all-new VE Commodore wagon in March and, not long after that, a Series II version of its VE Commodore to provide even stiffer competition for Ford’s Falcon, which for the first time last year was not Australia’s second-best-selling model.

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